Music Blog

Given their showbiz backgrounds, it seems Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields-- the musically-inclined thespians behind Dead Man's Bones-- should know better than to break one of the industry's cardinal rules: don't share the stage with kids or animals. The truth is, the duo, citing an affinity for past projects like The Langley Schools Music Project, had already shattered the first of those precepts by including a chorus of children's voices from the Silverlake Conservatory Children's Choir in their self-titled debut recording, out recently on Anti-. The voices inject an innocence and exuberance into what is otherwise a rather dark and macabre collection (although it's not difficult to hear another level of creepiness because of their presence).

Kid part of the rule soundly broken, Dead Man's Bones turned to animals for the recent announcement of their current tour and the results speak for themselves. Even as we're speaking of music that's been called "ghoulish doo-wop" and deals with death and its entrails, we're inspired to try to approach life more like this dog. He's "spirited" see? 

Just ahead of Halloween, Dead Man's Bones plays Mississippi Studios this Sunday night, presumably sans canine.

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